Once upon a time, there was a show. This show was called Arrested Development. “The story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” To say that this family was dysfunctional is to say that water is wet. There was the pathologically duplicitous father, the alcoholic mother, the socially-crippled brother, and so many more weird, wonderful characters. Tragically this show was canceled after three seasons.
Once upon a time, there was a show. This show was called Sealab 2021. It took footage from the old cartoon Sealab 2020, dubbed over it, added new animation, and made a crazy new show. Every episode the sea lab blew up. Eric Estrata was in it. There were amazing episodes where a character’s biological clock suddenly went off, and began interviewing potential fathers. There was an episode where the crew’s parallel universe counterparts invaded looking for diamonds beans a laser beam. And one where a character manufactured Stimutacs – highly addictive pills that gave the crew super strength, enlightenment, and a strong desire to be filled with Marduk – slayer of Tiamat.
Flash forward to now, and the creators of Sealab – unabashed fans of Arrested Development – have created Acher. Described as Arrested Development meets Bond, this show has quickly become the highlight of my week. Centered around Sterling Archer, the vain, selfish, and cruel top spy at ISIS, “Archer” features action, romance (well… mostly just sex), dysfunctional family humor, and workplace humor/hijinks. Other characters include Lana Kane, a smart, strong woman who is just as good a spy as Sterling, and infinitely better at everything else; Mallory Archer, the drunken, sadistic head of ISIS who obviously crippled her son with the world’s worst parenting; as well as Caryl/Cheryl the ditzy secretary, Cyril the accountant, and Pam the slutty-but-lonely HR rep.
Honestly there’s pretty much nothing I dislike about this show, but there are some things I particularly enjoy. For one, it features a heavy dose of running gags – just like Arrested. These include phrases like “This is why we can’t have nice things,” “this is how we get ants,” and “Oh this is just classic him/her.” For another, the dialogue is always crisp, witty, biting, and generally well-done. This is helped by the fact that the creator writes or co-writes every episode.
Also, Mallory is voiced by Jessica Walter – Lucille from Arrested. She is playing almost the exact same character, which is a great joy to any fan of Arrested Development. There are occasionally call-backs to that role, which makes it even better. For example, a love-interest of hers is voiced by Jeffrey Tambor. Further, her ditzy secretary is voiced by Judy Greer – the ditzy secretary from Arrested. And – finally – Cyril is voiced by Chris Parnell, who plays his wimpy, pathetic character to perfection.
I’m trying to keep this short and sweet. This is really a show you have to try out for yourself. Might I recommend the latest episode, in which Mallory has a breast cancer scare? It was one of the best episodes of the series in my opinion, and this isn’t really the kind of show that requires previous viewing. Just jump on and enjoy the wit, the violence, the sex, and the hilarious workplace humor that really speaks to a business major like me.
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